Magnetic stripe readers have been used extensively to read common credit cards that include magnetic stripes (i.e., magnetic stripe cards). Magnetic stripes incorporate encoded data to make cashless payment possible.
There are a few undesirable characteristics associated with magnetic stripe cards. For example, the magnetic stripe of the card can wear out after multiple swipes. In addition, the magnetic stripe card provides poor security because it can easily be duplicated and in many cases the card holder is required to hand the magnetic stripe card to a cashier. Often, multiple swipes are required to achieve a successful read because a successful read depends on the speed of magnetic stripe card swipe, the direction of the magnetic stripe card swipe, a swipe with the correct side of the magnetic stripe card, and the surface condition of the magnetic stripe. Furthermore, the encoded data can be erased easily when the magnetic stripe card is in the proximity of electronic and/or magnetic material.
The popularity of magnetic stripe cards is attributable to their low cost. In the past 20 years, smart cards have gained popularity in both Europe and Asia. However, smart cards are very expensive when compared with the magnetic stripe cards. At least for this reason, smart cards have not been well received in the United States. Furthermore, the output data format of a smart card reader is incompatible with the output data format of a magnetic card reader.
Recently, contactless cards and contactless card readers have gained popularity in cashless payment. There are some desirable characteristics associated with contactless cards. For example, the contactless card does not wear out because there is no contact between the contactless card and the contact less card reader. In addition, the contactless card provides a higher level of security than the magnetic stripe card because the contactless card cannot be duplicated easily, the contactless card provides dynamic encryption, and the contactless card holder simply holds the contactless card adjacent the contactless card reader without passing the contactless card to a cashier. The contactless card can be read more quickly than the magnetic stripe card. A successful read of a contactless card is independent of the contactless card orientation and speed of approach to the contactless card reader. Furthermore, data encoded on the contactless card cannot be corrupted by proximity of the contactless card to electronic and/or magnetic devices.
In the United States, magnetic stripe cards and magnetic stripe readers are being replaced by contactless cards and contactless card readers, bypassing smart card technology that is significantly more complex, incompatible and costly. To facilitate this transition, the output data format of contactless readers was made compatible with the output data format of magnetic stripe readers. Thus, the conventional credit card verification system has been preserved. All major credit card issuers have now accepted contactless card technology. Contactless cards and contactless card readers have also been adopted by many merchants.
The current contactless card reader is a desktop terminal that is disposed on a point-of-sale counter in a substantially horizontal orientation. The contactless card reader may include a magnetic stripe reader to read legacy magnetic stripe cards and a dedicated display device to prompt a card holder during various steps of the reading process. The messages displayed by the display device may include “Present Card”, “Processing”, and “Thank You”.
In point-of-sale (POS) applications, the desktop contactless card reader has several drawbacks. For example, the desktop contactless card reader takes up crowded point-of-sale counter space. The desktop contactless card reader can be removed and stolen easily. The desktop contactless card reader requires an additional connection to a POS computing device. The desktop contactless card reader requires a dedicated display device to prompt a customer in making cashless payment.